


Miss Granger

by scarletladyy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-14
Updated: 2012-11-14
Packaged: 2017-12-13 09:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/822766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletladyy/pseuds/scarletladyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are many differences between father and son, but it's only just occurred to Hermione that she may have married the wrong Malfoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miss Granger

**Author's Note:**

> Written for pigwidgeon37 for lm_hgficxchange 2012. A thousand and one thanks to my wonderful beta and the mods.
> 
> This fic was based off the following prompt:   
> Draco and Hermione are a couple (whether married and/or with children is up to you). Lucius is single (why/how is up to you). For some reason or other, during Draco's absence (work, illness, abduction, infidelity, you name it) Hermione becomes aware that she'd really rather be together with the father than the son.

"Baby!" Draco slurs, and Hermione turns to him with a sickly sweet smile on her face. She hates it when he gets drunk, especially when they have company. At no other time does he ever refer to her with such a Muggle nickname. "Get us some more Firewhisky, would you?"

"Of course," she says through gritted teeth. She puts her book down on the end table next to her armchair and makes her way to the kitchen. Quietly she grabs six glasses and pours Ogden's Finest into them all, placing them neatly on a tray and going back into the parlour. It's Draco's night to host the weekly poker game for his Slytherin group, and she really doesn't want to show him up, so she plays the dutiful wife. The men jeer as they see her approach, while Pansy smirks at her, knowing Hermione hates every second of this.

"That's my girl." Draco pats Hermione's arse as she places the tray down on the table and hands out the drinks, collecting the empty glasses. She makes a move to leave, to re-enter the kitchen and get away from the leering looks the men are giving her, but Draco holds her still in his arms. "Don't leave so soon. I've told Blaise that if he wins he can have you for the night."

Hermione laughs along with everyone else. She knows he's joking, that it's the drink talking, but she wouldn't be too surprised if he'd actually done that. Sometimes he's possessive, and yet at other times, mostly when he's drunk, he wants everyone to 'know how amazing she is'. If she were Pansy, she'd be flattered. But she's not Pansy, and she's not flattered. Hermione knows Pansy would do anything to be her, and sometimes that thought makes Pansy's cruel taunts and facial expressions worth it. 

"I wish he had, you know." Blaise enters the conversation, and also deems it appropriate to touch her arse too. She's stood in between Draco and Blaise, and she's thankful when Draco bats his hand away. He's not _that_ drunk yet, then.

Hermione smiles at Blaise and then Draco, and then forcefully walks out of their clutches. The men all make mocking sounds of sadness as she leaves, and the second she enters the kitchen she breathes a sigh of relief.

"My son is so young and foolish." Hermione turns as her father-in-law alerts her to his presence. He's wearing his finest suit, having just come in from an evening at the theatre. "If I had a woman of such beauty, I would never let anyone lay a hand on her."

"I suppose that's where you and your son differ, Lucius." Even after four years of marriage to his son, it still feels strange to call him that. After everything that has happened, especially his witnessing of her torture by his sister-in-law's hand, she's never quite felt comfortable with him. Something about his manner puts her on edge, though not in the frightening way she would have assumed. As ashamed as she is to acknowledge it, it's somewhat exciting.

"It would appear so." Lucius snaps his fingers and his personal house-elf, Lisha, appears to take away his suit jacket. Hermione gives him a disapproving look, for as much as she's managed to free all the other house-elves; Lucius has refused to let her free Lisha. He undoes his cuffs and rolls the sleeves up to his arms; it's unusually hot for a summer evening. "Perhaps I did not teach him as much as I had hoped."

"He's drunk; he needs to relax," Hermione begins, then stops herself as she realises she's making excuses for him again. Regardless of the fact that being the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic is stressful, it does not excuse Draco's behaviour.

Lucius leans against the fridge, one of the few Muggle appliances the Malfoy men have allowed her. "Are you going to miss him?"

Tomorrow Draco leaves on another business trip; he's going to France to fix the Minister's latest cock-up. Hermione wishes her answer to be yes, but with the way he's behaving right now, it's leaning more towards no.

"Babydoll!" Draco calls.

The answer is written all over Hermione's face as she goes to see what he wants this time.

*

"Here." Hermione hands Draco a Hangover Potion the second he wakes up, which is well after midday. She knows if she doesn't he'll raid the cupboards and leave a trailing mess behind him. "Was it a good night?" It wasn't long after Hermione's short conversation with Lucius that she'd gone to bed. Not only was she tired, but she also hadn't wanted to wait on Draco and his friends any longer. She'd half expected to wake up to them sprawled across the sitting room carpet. It wouldn't be the first time.

"The best." He says that every time. "Thanks for the potion."

Hermione smiles and trails her fingers through his unkempt morning hair; it's now that she likes him the most. Raw and open, not conveyed to behave a certain way by his friends or family. Just Draco. "You're welcome. Would you like breakfast? I wasn't sure if you'd like to eat yet."

"No, thank you." Draco pulls back the duvet, the potion having worked its magic, and gets out of bed naked. She watches him with a smile on her face as he crosses the bedroom and opens up his wardrobe. "I think I'm just going to get off. I had Lisha pack last night."

She decides to ignore his use of Lisha. "So soon?" Despite how he made her feel last night, Hermione doesn't want him to go after all. 

Draco pulls out his finest robes and begins to dress. "There's a lot to do, and Pansy's going early too."

"Pansy's going?" Try as she might, Hermione can't keep the malice out of her voice.

"Of course," Draco says matter-of-factly. "She is my secretary."

That would have been a perfectly reasonable answer if Pansy had gone on all his other business trips. Hermione wants to pry further, to know more, but she doesn't want Draco to think she's needy or clingy. She's not. She's just good old curious Hermione. "How long are you away this time?"

"A month."

Hermione frowns; he's never been away that long before. "I'll miss you."

"And I, you," Draco says, coming over half-dressed and wrapping his arms around her waist. He nuzzles on her neck as he whispers soothing words in her ear that she can only just catch. Then he pats her bottom and says, "But my work is important," before continuing to dress.

"I know." Of course she knows; he's higher up in the Ministry than she is and he'll never let her forget it.

"Right." Draco grabs some important documents from the dressing table and stuffs them in his pockets. He kisses her on the cheek and then makes his way to the door. "Bye, love."

Draco's gone so fast that Hermione doesn't even get a chance to say goodbye. It's almost as if he can't wait to be rid of her.

*

"Good evening, Miss Granger." Lucius strolls into the parlour with a small glass of Firewhisky and sits opposite her. Despite the fact that she's a Malfoy now and she's asked him to call her Hermione, he still refers to her as though she were a teenager.

Hermione looks up over her book. "Evening." She's too tired to correct him tonight. "How was your day?"

"Dreadful. Narcissa is determined to fight me all the way for the cottage in Italy. I really wouldn't mind if it weren't built by my great grandfather's great grandfather. As such, I shall not let her get her hands on it." Lucius takes a sip of his drink and looks outside, through the open French doors. The hot weather has not yet ceased, and it's nothing short of tedious to have to cast continual Cooling Charms.

"Lucius," Hermione starts, then falters. She admires his strength with Narcissa and wants his advice, but the embarrassment holds her back. He looks at her questionably until she continues. "Pansy. What do you think of her?"

"Miss Parkinson has always been a good friend to Draco." Lucius' answer is too non-committal for Hermione's liking.

"That's not what I asked. What do _you_ think of her?"

Lucius eyes her suspiciously, trying to see what she's thinking. "Ahh," he says when he works it out. "No, I don't think Draco has any feelings for her."

"She fancies him, though. She loves him, even."

He arches an eyebrow. "I never would have taken you for the jealous type."

"I'm not," Hermione snaps. "I'm just stating a fact."

"Perhaps Miss Parkinson is in love with Draco, but you are married to him, Miss Granger."

"Exactly, so stop calling me 'Miss Granger'!" She's embarrassed at how quickly her temper is rising, and the smirk on his face just adds to her annoyance.

"I'm afraid I'll never know you as anyone but 'Miss Granger', Miss Granger." Lucius places his glass on the end table and picks up the book he'd left there, effectively cutting off her conversation with him. Hermione wants to scream or shout or otherwise vent her frustration, but she doesn't want to embarrass herself further. She carries on with her book, but she's so distracted she can't help but look at Lucius every now and again. He seems fully immersed in his own book. She admires that he reads a lot and she wishes Draco read as much as his father, because she finds it quite sexy. The smell of books, a finely dressed man and one who eludes elegance has always turned Hermione on. Once upon a time, she'd thought that was Draco. Apparently not.

Eventually, when Hermione can stand it no longer, she _harrumphs_ and exits the parlour. She hopes, though she's not sure why, that Lucius noticed.

*

The next morning at breakfast, Hermione is getting her cereal when Lucius walks in. He's already fully clothed and prepared for the day, like her. It's another trait she's grudgingly admitted to liking about the man. Draco will happily sit in his pajamas until he needs to go out, and Hermione has never been able to see it as anything but slovenly.

"Morning, Miss Granger."

Hermione's sure he stressed her maiden name, but she's not going to allow it to wind her up today. Before she can reply, an Owl flies in through the open window with a letter. She immediately recognises the seal as Draco's and isn't sure whether she's pleased or not. The thought that she should probably address that properly is quickly repressed.

"What does Draco say?"

"He's arrived safely." Hermione scans the lines, looking for the name she knows she shouldn't care about, finding it on the fifth line down. "He says Pansy picked the accommodation well. They're even sharing a little cottage."

Lucius raises an eyebrow, disregarding her latter statement when he speaks. "Good to hear he's safe."

"Indeed," Hermione says tersely. She can't help but fixate on Draco and Pansy being in such close proximity. "Their accommodation is too cosy for my liking, though."

"It's the same as us now. Do you think Draco worries about you?"

"No," Hermione scoffs. "And it's different. You're my father-in-law."

There's a look in Lucius' eye that makes her think Lucius doesn't think it's any different at all. But if he doesn't think it's any different, that must mean he must see it in a different way than family. Though, she's sure he's never considered her family. Still.

_It can't possibly be the same!_ Hermione thinks. _Things can happen between Draco and Pansy. Nothing can happen between Lucius and me. Can they?_ She looks at Lucius again, considering him as a partner for the first time. She's never thought of him as anything other than Draco's father before, but thinking about it, he actually has more desirable traits than his son, her husband.

Feeling awkward and not really sure where her train of thought is going, she puts down her breakfast and makes her excuses. With the facial expression on Lucius' face as she leaves, it's as though he knows exactly what she's thinking. But he can't; Hermione knows very well that Lucius would never dream of going out with a Mudblood.

Doesn't she?

*

"I've heard nothing more from Draco," Hermione says one evening, a week after Draco's last letter. "Have you?"

Lucius shakes his head. " Though I'm quite certain I raised my son to cope abroad alone."

"He's not alone," Hermione quips. "He's with his _best friend_. Shacked up in a cottage as though they were man and wife. It should be me there, not her."

"You are not my son's secretary, Miss Granger," Lucius says so matter-of-factly that Hermione can't help but glare at him. "Why are you so concerned? I never cheated on Narcissa."

Hermione sighs. "You and your son aren't as alike as you'd like to think. You're elegant where he's unrefined; you're academically minded where he can't be bothered; you carry yourself with certainty where he doesn't care. He thinks he's God's gift to women whereas you actually are." She stops dead and gasps. _Did I just say that?_ "I just meant..."

"There's no need to correct yourself. I never have been and never will be a cheater, and while in the past I may not have considered your... _type_ , things have changed and you are an exception."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, Miss Granger," Lucius leans forwards slightly, staring into her eyes, "that if the marriage between yourself and my son were not to work out, I would not cut you out of my life."

As naive as Hermione can be sometimes, she's sure she knows what Lucius is implying here: that if she and Draco split up, he'd go out with her. Lucius smiles as he sits down and picks up the _Prophet_ , catching up on the latest news in the wizarding world. It's another trait of his she adores, his desire to be worldly and up on current events. With Draco, unless it affects either himself or his job, he doesn't care. He doesn't see the point, regarding it as useless information.

Then it hits her, and she can't believe she's missed it so far: the reason she's so concerned about Draco and Pansy is that she's been developing feelings for Lucius. She's not sure what kind of feelings, she's only really just acknowledged them, but it occurs to her that Lucius is more her type of man than Draco is, and she feels guilty about it. She's been projecting her own desires onto those of her husband, passing them off to him instead because she's been too afraid to confront them.

Now, with Lucius' almost guarantee that if anything bad were to happen between her and Draco, Hermione can't help but kind of that hope that Pansy makes a move on Draco after all. For, if she does and Draco lets Hermione know, it'll be an easier get out for her. The shitstorm that'll probably come after she and Lucius get together, if they even do, is another matter entirely. 

With so much uncertainty surrounding her father-in-law, Hermione's not sure what to think. But she does know this: Lucius would never treat her the way Draco does. It occurs to her that that she may have married the wrong Malfoy.


End file.
